


Finding Peace

by AlyssaPeverell



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Breathplay, Domestic, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Gay Mutant Road Trip, Lactation Kink, M/M, Mansion Fic, Mpreg, Work In Progress, X-Men: First Class Fix It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2018-07-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 00:11:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8775373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssaPeverell/pseuds/AlyssaPeverell
Summary: A series of scenes from an in-progress novel-length fic, beginning with Charles and Erik's first meeting in Miami and following them on their journey to create a family.





	1. Fredericksburg

Another generic motel room at the Ramada Inn closest to the coordinates provided by Charles’ latest session in Cerebro. 

After Charles ensured that the clerk had handed over a receipt for a room with two double beds, Erik accepted the room key the man slid across the counter and followed Charles out of the lobby. They bypassed the staircase leading up to the second floor, walking down the hall until they arrived in front of the last door.

“Nice of him to give us a room three doors away from any other guests.”

Opening the door without even bothering to reach for the key, Charles replied, “Three on this floor, two above us and to the left.”

“Excellent. Good to know your concentration will be on me for the entire night, no moments of distraction while you turn away the attention of the people in the room next to us.”

“No need for my tie to keep quiet this time either.”

“That was quite the weekend. Even though I had to take a brief break from wearing turtlenecks because of the humidity, I certainly do have fond memories of Orlando.”

“So do I. Those shorts you ended up picking out were obscene. I do not know how I kept myself from jumping you until we were through talking to that girl who could manipulate molecules.”

Grabbing his shaving kit and underwear from the bag that he had set down on the queen-sized bed, Erik walked to the bathroom, stopping in the doorway and turning to face Charles. “After five hours on the road, I’m going to grab a shower. Would you care to join me?”

Dropping the folders he had retrieved from his suitcase onto the desk, Charles crossed the room until he was standing in front of Erik. Running his hands up and down the other man’s chest once, twice, Charles leaned up to kiss him, telling him, “I would love to, but I really should take a look at these files first,” when they separated.

“Fair enough. But when I am done, I fully intend to be as distracting as possible.”

“I look forward to it.” Pulling away and moving back across the room to sit in the chair in front of the desk, Charles twisted in the seat so he was facing Erik. “I should be finished by then anyway.”

“We’ll see,” Erik said before he disappeared into the bathroom.

Charles heard the shower turn on, the spray of water hitting the tiles, but he quickly became engrossed in researching the young mutant they had travelled to Fredericksburg to find. He had just begun to jot down some ideas he had about the practical applications a sonic scream might have in case the mutant, a sixteen-year-old named Sean Cassidy, agreed to join them when he felt Erik come up behind him and place his hands on his shoulders. Running his thumbs along the nape of Charles’ neck, Erik announced, “I’m done so now I get to lure you away from your work.”

Leaning back into his touch, Charles tilted his head up and said, “I just need about ten more minutes. I have a list of the places he tends to frequent and I’m just going to plot them on the map. We’ll start at the nearest place tomorrow morning and, if he’s not there, we’ll move on to the next closest location until we find him.”

“I can do that,” Erik offered.

“Are you sure?”

“Charles, I've spent years tracking Shaw. I think I can handle finding one teenage boy in a small town.”

When Charles still looked hesitant, Erik gently freed the pen from Charles’ grasp, setting it down on the manilla folder and pulling him up. “It will save time. I can finish this while you shower so you don't have to do it after you're done.”

“So you can fuck me into the mattress without having to tempt me away, you mean.”

“That, too. But you know I enjoy working for your attention just as much.”

“That I do.” Charles took a moment to remember the decadent afternoon at the CIA facility, when Charles had returned to his assigned room after a meeting with Agent Platt to find Erik waiting for him. The older man had waited just long enough for the door to close before he proceeded to put on a show for Charles, beginning with the slow loosening of his dark purple tie and ending with the gradual lowering of his briefs, leaving him bare before Charles’ heated gaze.

Shaking himself from his reminiscence, Charles clasped a seated Erik’s shoulder briefly before making his way to the bathroom.

By the time Charles had wrapped a towel around his waist and was stepping back into the room, drying his hair with a second towel, Erik was just circling the local drive-in theater, which was located a couple miles northeast of their hotel, and writing the number five next to it.

“Finished already?” Charles inquired.

“Yes. We'll start at the bowling alley, then head over to the aquarium if he's not there. If we still haven't found him, we'll check the park and the ice cream shop before heading over to the drive-in.”

“Good plan. Very logical. And I should be able to tell if we are in the right place not long after we arrive so it shouldn't take us long to find him. If I were looking for you, I'd easily be able to locate you from here in a town this size, but since I've only felt his mind once, I need to be a bit closer.” Charles paused and then added, “And this potential recruit’s mutation is a sonic scream so try not to be so intimidating. I should be able to stop him before he can scream, or make sure no one remembers anything out of the ordinary if I don't stop him in time, but I would prefer to avoid it altogether.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have been perfectly pleasant for this entire recruiting road trip,” Erik protested.

“Of course you have,” Charles replied.

While delivering his rejoinder, Erik left his place in front of the desk and crossed over to where Charles was standing beside the bed. Erik reached out and ran his finger along the edge of his towel. His hand trailed up Charles' stomach, making Charles' abdominal muscles contract, and meandered over to his side, his finger finding a freckle near Charles’ hipbone and tracing out patterns using its fellows until he reached Charles' shoulder.

In return, Charles reached out and brushed the back of his fingers over the bulging fabric, feeling the heat of Erik's engorged cock through the black briefs. Raising his arm to press his palm flat over Erik's firm stomach, Charles had him turn so he could sit down on the edge of the bed. Pulling the covers back and moving until he reached the pillows, Erik made himself comfortable and patted the space beside him invitingly.

Undoing his towel, Charles let it fall to the floor before he joined Erik on the bed, settling between his slightly spread legs instead of sitting down next to him.

“Time to take these off, I think.”

“By all means,” Erik invited, lifting his hips when Charles reached for his waistband, allowing him to pull them down and drop them off the side of the bed to join his discarded towel. Settling a hand on Erik's leg just above his knee, Charles kissed a path from the bottom of Erik's rib cage to his neck. Feeling Erik tangle a hand in his hair, Charles mouthed his way up the side of Erik's neck, over the curve of his jaw, and up to Erik's welcoming lips.

As they kissed, Charles could hear his suitcase opening and a moment later he felt their metal container of Vaseline land on the mattress beside them. They continued kissing for a while, Erik's hands sliding down to frame Charles’ waist while Charles slid a hand behind Erik's neck. Finally pulling himself away from Erik's lips, Charles reached for the Vaseline, took Erik's hand in his, and coated three of his fingers before guiding Erik's hand to his lower back. Erik took over then, sliding a finger down the crack of Charles’ ass and circling a finger around his hole. When Charles pushed back against him, Erik pushed a finger in. By the time Erik was stretching Charles with three fingers, the telepath was pushing his impatience and eagerness at Erik.

Sliding his fingers out, Erik slicked his cock and held his shaft so Charles could lift up and sink down onto him. When Charles was fully seated, his ass resting against Erik's thighs, he paused for a few moments to adjust to Erik inside of him. Charles began rocking his hips and Erik thrust up to meet him. Once they had a rhythm established, Erik reached down and took Charles' cock in hand, stroking him with a tight grip the way he knew Charles preferred.

Erik let Charles ride him for a time, but when he felt Charles getting close to orgasm, Erik stopped stroking Charles rather than push him over the edge. Instead, he took hold of Charles' hips and rolled them over so Charles was lying on his back beneath Erik, his knees bracketing Erik's ribs.

Charles moved his hand from where he was running a thumb along Erik's side to reach up beside his head and wrap his hand around Erik's wrist. Sharing his intention with Erik, Charles allowed him a moment to shift his weight to his left arm before moving Erik's hand so it rested on his throat. Charles exerted a slight pressure on Erik's hand before returning his own hand to Erik's side, sliding it up to rub between his shoulder blades.

Charles sent Erik a silent _will you do this for me please_ before telling Erik, _I saw this in someone's mind at a pub in Oxford and I've been wanting to try it for a while. Can we try it?_

Feeling Erik hesitate, concerned about hurting Charles, the telepath assured him, _I trust you._ And because he knew it would make Erik feel better, Charles added, _I can stop you if I need to._

Erik relented, tightening his hold on the column of Charles’ throat. Charles was able to suck in small breaths and, as his skin began to flush from lack of oxygen, he dropped a hand down to work his cock, coming after a handful of strokes.

Erik waited until Charles had stopped contracting around him to remove his hand, letting Charles breathe freely as he returned his hand to its place near Charles' head on the bed. Now that Charles had orgasmed, Erik sought his own release, driving into Charles furiously. Erik had just leaned down to kiss Charles before he fell apart above him, gasping into their kiss as his release washed over him.

Breaking away from their kiss, Erik let his head hang down for a few moments, hair just brushing Charles' chest, before he gingerly pulled out of Charles and made a brief trip to the bathroom, returning to Charles with a damp cloth. Dragging his fingers through the come decorating Charles' chest, Erik made quick work of cleaning Charles.

Returning to the bed, Erik laid down on Charles' left side, pulling him close as Charles stretched an arm out across his chest and rested his head on his shoulder. Absently rubbing his thumb along Charles' hipbone, Erik turned his head so he could breathe in the scent of Charles' shampoo as he drifted off to sleep, basking in the contentment radiating from the telepath in his arms. 


	2. The (Temporary) End of Special Occasions

Shortly after Charles and Erik excused themselves from dinner, forgoing desert, and adjourned to the study for their evening chess game, Hank gave a brief knock to the door and made his way to the sideboard where Charles kept his alcohol.

As Hank started to walk out of the room with Charles' scotch, Charles halted his exit by asking him where he thought he was going with his Glenlivet 21.

Turning around, Hank told the couple, "Recent studies have shown that consuming alcohol during pregnancy can have a detrimental effect on the babies."

As soon as he finished speaking, Hank turned on his heel and left the room, closing the door to the study behind him. When they were alone again, Charles turned back to face the chessboard in time to see Erik's amused smirk.

"Oh, shut up," Charles said.

"I didn't say anything," Erik denied.

"You're thinking it," Charles countered.

"I'm not thinking anything," Erik argued. "I'm deliberately _not_ thinking about what just happened."

When Charles continued to look at him, Erik continued, "Although now that you've brought it up...I think Hank is right. You definitely shouldn't be drinking until the twins are born.”

“You're just glad Hank took my scotch. You've always thought it was extravagant to drink during an evening of chess."

"Maybe at first, but you know I don't think that anymore."

"I know."

Charles took a moment to remember that night, one of their first in the mansion, and felt it as Erik's thoughts turned to the same evening.

*~*~*~*~*~*

_It was 8 pm on a Friday night, and Charles and Erik were settling down in the study, just as they had done for the previous five days they had been living in the Xavier family mansion. Just as Charles has done for the last five days, he poured himself two fingers of scotch before settling down across the chessboard from Erik. As Erik put down his own drink, a martini, Charles caught the slight frown Erik gave his tumbler and responded to it._

_"I know you think drinking expensive scotch regularly is extremely indulgent, but I assure you, my father, and my stepfather after him, ensured our cellar was always fully stocked. There are still plenty of bottles left."_

_"Personally, I prefer to enjoy Glenlivet 21 on special occasions, but I would never presume to tell you what you can drink and when you can drink it. Especially not in your own home."_

_"Oh, Erik," Charles said. "You make everything a special occasion, my friend."_

_Erik didn't say anything in response to Charles' declaration, but Charles could feel a burst of warm feeling from Erik's mind - a mix of happiness and the feeling of pleasant surprise. Charles knew Erik was more accustomed to unpleasant surprise, terrible things that'd had a negative impact on his life, so Charles was glad he could give Erik things to look forward to._

*~*~*~*~*~*

"If it helps, I won't drink again until the end of your pregnancy."

"It's bad enough that I can't drink for the next 6 months. I don't want to be responsible for depriving you, too."

"I'll be fine, Charles. You wouldn't just have to watch me drink in front of you, you'd be able to taste it, too, but you wouldn't be able to actually drink any. I would hate to tease you like that."

“Thank you,” Charles said sincerely. With a lascivious smile, Charles added, "And I would never call you a tease, darling."

Erik huffed and asked Charles, "Are you going to waggle your eyebrows at me now, Liebling?"

"No need," Charles said haughtily.

"Confident, aren't you?" Erik asked.

“Yes,” Charles said simply. “I've had you in my bed every night for months and I don't think you're going to deny me now that my hormones are making me insatiable, especially since the pregnancy is your fault.”

“I may be partially responsible for your pregnancy, but, as I recall, you were insatiable even before we conceived the twins.”

“That’s true, but only because I found you so magnetic,” Charles told him, unable to resist the pun.

Shaking his head, Erik confirmed Charles’ assumption. “You're right, of course. I would never leave you on your own. Would you care to retire to our room right now?”

“Tempting,” Charles responded honestly. “But I think I can wait until I checkmate you.”

“Since you're so sure you're going to win, would you care to make a wager on the outcome?”

“What do you have in mind?” Charles asked, curious. 

“Winner decides exactly what we do after we move to the bedroom.”

“You're on,” Charles responded, moving his knight.


	3. Daniel and Emily

"Seen any names you like yet?" Erik asked, walking into the study.

Lowering the baby name book to let it rest on his baby bump, Charles lifted his head to watch Erik cross the room and settle into the armchair closest to Charles.

"For a boy, my favorite is Daniel. But I was thinking that we could use your father's name. Jakob Daniel Xavier-Lehnsherr."

"Charles..." Erik said, pausing for a moment and clearing his throat before continuing. "Thank you. I think my parents would have loved to have one of their grandchildren carry their name. But I think I prefer the sound of Daniel Jakob Xavier-Lehnsherr and I'm sure my parents would have been just as satisfied with a middle name."

"Hmm..." Charles took a few moments to consider Erik's suggestion. "Daniel Jakob Xavier-Lehnsherr. I like it. Do you have any girl's names that you're partial to?"

"I've come up with a few possibilities." Gently removing the book from Charles' hands, Erik took a folded piece of paper from between the last page and the back cover before returning the book to Charles, along with the list of potential baby names he had retrieved. As Charles read through the list, Erik told him, "Adena, Alice, Brooke, Danielle, Elizabeth, Emily, Madeline, Rachel, and Rose."

"I like Emily and Rose, too," Charles said, putting Erik's list back in the book and placing it on the end table.

"We can use both of those," Erik suggested. "They sound good together. What do you think about Emily Rose?"

Once again, Charles repeated the names to himself. "Emily Rose. Emily Rose and Daniel Jakob Xavier-Lehnsherr. I love them. I think we just named our children, love."

"I think we did," Erik agreed, moving forward to kiss the man carrying his children. When their kiss ended, Erik rested his hand on Charles' stomach, rubbing his hand back and forth.

"They like that," Charles told him.

"Good," Erik smiled, lifting up Charles' sweater and leaning down to kiss Charles' swollen stomach.

Charles smoothed his hand through Erik's hair and said, "I like it, too."

"I'm glad," Erik said, kissing Charles again.


	4. Chicken Soup and Conversation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene exists solely because I have a cold this week.

“Thank you,” Erik said, accepting the tray Charles handed him. He would have levitated it over to himself as soon as Charles had reached the doorway, but, as they had discovered earlier that morning when Erik had attempted to open the top drawer of the dresser before his shower and, instead of opening just his drawer, he opened all of the nightstands and dresser’s drawers, Erik's powers went a bit haywire when he was sick.

Sitting down on the couch next to Erik, Charles reached out and felt Erik’s forehead with the back of his hand. “You feel a little warm, but I don't think you have a fever.”

“Mmm” Erik hummed in acknowledgement. He leaned into Charles’ hand for a moment before pulling back and putting as much distance between the two of them as he could without jostling the tray too much so Charles would not catch his cold.

“I should have gone,” Charles told Erik, “instead of asking you. I could have kept up the projection long enough for everyone to see me without the stomach of someone who is seven months pregnant.”

“Of course you shouldn't have gone,” Erik denied emphatically. “I'd much rather be sick myself than have the three of you sick in my place.” Lifting the spoon from the napkin, Erik began to eat the chicken soup Charles had brought him. “I should have made Alex or Raven go instead. Then one of them would have a cold right now instead of me.”

“Erik,” Charles chided. “Besides, no one else knows my cravings better than you do.”

“I should hope not,” Erik protested. “I can only imagine what I might do to someone who knew what my children and lover want to eat better than I do.”

“That's sweet, darling. But don't think that can fool me into believing that you would do anything to anyone living in this house. You love them all too much.”


	5. Nightcap

Charles was lying in bed, propped up by several pillows. His knees were bent slightly and a stack of papers was resting against his thighs. He had a pencil tucked behind his right ear and he was just reaching for it so he could add a note to Hank's most recent proposed improvements to Cerebro when the door swung open and Erik strolled in carrying Charles’ favorite tea pot, tea cup, and creamer on an 1812 George III silver tea tray that had belonged to Charles’ great-great grandfather, Francis Xavier.

Setting the tray on his bedside table, Erik joined Charles in bed. Turning onto his side so he was facing Charles, Erik reached out a hand and rested it on the swell of his and Charles’ children.

Charles finished writing out his suggestion before tucking his pencil in with the correct page in the file folder so he could resume his work immediately the next day. When everything had been transferred to Charles’ bedside table, Erik was free to retrieve the mint tea he had made for Charles.

Once Charles was cradling the saucer in his left hand and bringing the cup to his mouth with his right, Erik carefully moved from his place beside the telepath in favor of slowly making his way down the bed until he was directly in front of Charles, one hand on each bent knee. When Erik exerted a slight pressure, Charles allowed his legs to fall open. Erik scooted up into the space between them, leaning down to rest his head gently on Charles’ belly.

Letting out an appreciative hum after his first sip, Charles said, “Thank you, love. This tea is lovely, although I must say that I cannot wait to have Earl Grey again. I know my due date is only a little more than a month away, but even that feels far away right now.”

“It will be over before you know it and then we'll have two newborns. You'll be lucky if you can find time to have any tea at all.”

“I am lucky because I know that you'll make sure I can at least have a cuppa at breakfast.”

Erik leaned his head into the telepath’s touch as Charles ran his hand through his hair. “As long as the Earl Grey isn't the only thing that will wait until the twins are born.” Feeling an inquisitive nudge from Charles, Erik admonished, “Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, Liebling. Cerebro.” Nodding toward the notes resting on the table beside their bed, Erik continued, “With your guidance, Hank will have his improvements to Cerebro finished before your pregnancy is over, but we don't know what effect that machine will have on our children. Promise me that you'll wait a few months before you go in there again.”

Running his thumb along the curve of Erik's ear, Charles told him, “I promise. We won't look for any more students until after the holidays.”

“Are you sure you want to do that? I only wanted you to wait until after the first official semester of your school had started.”

“ _Our_ school,” Charles corrected. “And I think as new parents, in addition to teaching the students we already have, we are going to be busy enough.”

“That is true,” Erik agreed after a moment's consideration.

“And it will be good for the others as well. Everything's happened so quickly. We found them, told them that there were others out there like them, and then brought them here so that we could prepare for the war that Shaw wanted to start. Now that the threat is gone, I think it's best that they have time to acclimate to just being students after they had to prepare for the possibility of being soldiers.”

” _Some_ of them will be students,” Erik corrected. “Like you said at Agent Platt's facility, Hank graduated from Harvard when he was fifteen. I think the only thing he has left to learn is how to be comfortable with who he really is, and that is something that will only come with time. And Raven is done with school as well, isn't she?”

“She is,” Charles confirmed. “She audited a few courses while I was working on my PhD at Oxford, but she was never interested in pursuing anything past undergrad.”

“So when the time does come to add more students, we can ask Hank to teach a few science courses. I know you’ll probably want to keep Biology, Physiology, and Genetics once we have a sufficient number of students within the appropriate age ranges, but he can take on the other sciences, like Chemistry and Physics. And Raven can help train the students once they arrive. Cerebro isn’t the only project Hank has been working on that should be completed soon.”

“Yes, my main area of expertise is science, but I was also hoping to teach Literature as well. As long as you agree to do Literature, too.” Before Erik said anything, Charles added, “As long as that’s something you would be interested in doing, of course.”

“I can do that,” Erik agreed. “But I thought I might cover Languages.”

“German, French, and Spanish? And one Literature class.”

“As long as I don’t have to teach anyone how to read. By the time we have any students that young, we can put Sean in charge of that class.”

“Don’t torture the boy, Erik.” Charles turned serious. “I think Darwin would be more suited for that role. Or they can at least share the responsibility. Darwin’s patience and Sean’s enthusiasm will be a good combination.” After Erik gave a hum of agreement, Charles moved on. “So Hank and Raven don’t require any further schooling. Alex went to prison before he graduated from high school, but he was able to obtain his GED during his incarceration. Sean, however, had only finished his Junior year of high school before we recruited him.”

“I’m not as familiar with the American school system as you are. What is the difference between a GED and a high school diploma?”

“There’s not too much of one. But since Alex will most likely teach at least one class, it is probably best that he get his diploma as well.”

“Sean and Alex should be done with their schooling by the time any new students are enrolled so we’ll be able to assign them a few subjects. The fewer classes we have to teach, the less grading we will have to do. With two infants, the less work for us, the better.”

“We can certainly ask them if they would want to teach any students once the school is officially open, but we’re not going to force them to do anything that they don’t want to do.”

“Fine. But I’m sure they will be interested in at least trying it out. And maybe they will also be interested in babysitting once in a while. Making trips to the grocery store are probably easier without two children crying in the middle of the aisle. It would also be nice to have a date night once every month or so.”

“I agree with you when it comes to date night, but I’m sure one of us can stay behind while the other one goes shopping.”

Sitting up so he could take the telepath’s mostly empty teacup away from him and put it on top of Hank’s notes, Erik leaned in, resting a bit of his weight on Charles’ right leg. “Are you saying that you don’t want to go shopping with me anymore? If you aren’t there, then I am not going to get you any of your bizarre purchases.”

“Yes, you will,” Charles claimed confidently. “And exactly which of my purchases are you describing as ‘bizarre’? After Daniel and Emily are born, I won’t have any more food cravings.”

“It’s not just the strange food combinations,” Erik protested. “Every time you are the one who does the shopping, you come back with a random collection of items that we don’t need.”

“Not every time,” Charles protested. “And what have I bought that nobody in the house is using?”

“Eighty percent of the time,” Erik countered. “And the other twenty percent is because I go to the store with you. And I haven’t seen anyone using the snowboards that you decided you absolutely had to bring home with you from second to last shopping excursion.”

“Of course no one has used the snowboards yet. It’s only spring. I bought those for the winter months when we’ll have snow.”

“And of course you couldn’t wait until at least autumn or, I don’t know, even winter to buy snowboards.”

“Of course I couldn’t,” Charles said, mock affronted. “If I waited until winter, the store might have been sold out. And what if we find someone who can manipulate the weather and we have a snowstorm here in August?”

“Oh, yes,” Erik replied. “If we can find someone who can influence weather conditions, the first thing we’ll teach them is how to make it snow so that the other children can go play outside.”

“Of course we will teach them how to control their powers with proper training lessons, but teamwork and improving morale are important as well,” Charles said in his defense. “Now, are you really interested in continuing to bicker about shopping trips and teaching methods, or would you care to move forward with our evening?”

“And what, precisely, would we be moving on to?” Erik inquired.

In lieu of a reply, Charles tugged at Erik’s hair until he lifted his head from Charles’ stomach and followed Charles’ guiding hands until he fulfilled his lover’s desire for a kiss. While their lips moved, Erik used the hand not supporting his weight to caress Charles’ front, covered by the soft material of his blue and white maternity pajamas. Erik managed to undo the first two buttons with his free hand, but three buttons remained closed as they were made of plastic. The metallokinetic ended the kiss so he could finish unbuttoning the telepath’s shirt and push the checkered fabric to the side, uncovering Charles’ chest.

Running a hand over the exposed bump, Erik placed a kiss on the apex of Charles’ belly. 

“Hallo, mein Liebchen,” Erik whispered.

Once Erik had greeted the twins, he began to trail kisses up the center of Charles’ abdomen, beginning just above his protruding belly button and continuing up between the slight breasts that had developed around the beginning of Charles’ seventh month of pregnancy until he reached the base of Charles’ throat.

Pulling back, Erik tugged at Charles’ sleep pants and asked, “Let’s get rid of these, shall we?”

Charles lifted his hips in agreement and Erik was able to slide the pajama bottoms and underwear off the telepath and discard them on the floor beside the bed.

“Now you,” Charles requested.

Once Erik’s clothes and Charles’ shirt had joined Charles’ pants on the floor, Erik retook his position over the telepath. 

“Kiss me again,” Charles commanded. “I can tell that you just had coffee. While I do prefer tea, I miss the taste of coffee and your Tchibo Gold-Mocca coffee is definitely my favorite.”

“Yours and everyone else’s. I never should have let Alex try it when he asked what I was drinking. Once he tried it, he gave some to Darwin and Sean and together the three of them got Hank to start drinking it as well. Beast is constantly forgoing sleep to stay in his lab so he goes through a lot of coffee. I guess I should be glad that Raven doesn’t like it. I’ve seen her go through four cups in a single day so I would have to order more every week with how quickly it goes.”

“Yes, yes, it’s all Alex’s fault. Now get over here already.”

“Impatient,” Erik huffed, but he acquiesced to Charles’ request.

When they separated, Erik moved down so he could continue his work on Charles’ neck. The pregnant man let him linger long enough to leave a mark before giving him a mental nudge to move on. After one last kiss over the mark he had made, Erik did.

Giving a light nip to the side of the telepath’s breast, Erik asked, “May I?”

“Of course,” Charles granted.

With his permission, Erik settled more comfortably before engulfing the engorged flesh with a careful hand. Giving a light squeeze to the firm flesh caused a drop of milk to trickle down toward Charles’ sternum. Following the trail made by the watery drop with his tongue, the metallokinetic made his way from the center of Charles’ chest to his right breast. When they had first tried this three weeks before, it had taken some experimenting before Erik was able to latch on properly, but for their fourth time, Erik knew exactly what to do.

Taking an erect nipple into his mouth, he began to drink from Charles, the milk warm and thin at first. By the time Charles was running his fingers through Erik’s hair, the liquid he was taking in was slightly thicker and milk was leaking from the opposite side, beading on the nipple before running down. When Erik felt it hit the fingers of the hand he had rested on Charles’ ribcage, he took one last swallow before switching to Charles’ left side.

Smoothing a hand across the metallokinetic’s broad shoulders, Charles began to run his hand along Erik’s back in a gentle sweeping motion, taking a detour to feel Erik’s throat swallowing around him. As Erik took in the last few mouthfuls, Charles could see Erik begin to shift and he could feel the tip of Erik’s erect cock brush against his thigh.

When Erik finally lifted his head, he brushed a finger across the damp nipple before raising his eyes to meet his lover’s. Charles slid his hand up to grip Erik’s hair, using his hold to bring the other man’s face closer to his. Their lips met and when they broke apart to breathe, Charles licked Erik’s bottom lip and told him, “I think your coffee tastes better.”

Erik huffed out a laugh and brushed a thumb near the corner of Charles’ eye. “Charles, your mutation is giving us children. It has also adapted your body to enable you to feed our children. When you started feeling uncomfortable after your milk came in and you let me relieve the discomfort, how could I not enjoy the experience?”

Reviewing their past encounters from Erik’s perspective and feeling his genuine enjoyment at the experience, Charles conceded, “I suppose I would feel the same were the situation to be reversed. But even with my mutation, we are going to need to supplement with formula.”

“I know. That is why I’m appreciating what we have now.”

Reaching a hand down to brush over Erik’s cock, Charles said, “I’d like to appreciate what you have now.”

Dropping his forehead down to rest against the telepath’s, Erik told him, “That’s terrible.”

“I know,” Charles responded. “But we really should make use of the time we have now. New parents experience a 75% decrease in their sex life during the first six months.”

“Is that right?”

“Probably. I can get Hank to give me the actual statistic if you want.”

“No, that’s fine. I can believe that 75% is the average rate.”

“I can guess where this is going,” Charles interjected. “‘That is the average rate, but we are not average’. Might I remind you that that rate is for parents of one child and we are going to have two children.”

“That’s not where I was going actually,” Erik denied, reveling in the small burst of surprise from Charles that was like pleasant sparks through his mind. “What I was going to say,” he continued, “is that the pregnancy has definitely increased your libido these past few months, which I did not think was possible after our time on the road together.”

“I distinctly remember plenty of nights when I wanted to prepare for the next meeting, but was dragged away because you were insatiable.”

“What can I say? I guess I learned from the best.” Before he could protest his influence, Erik returned to his original topic. “My point is that even if sex will be less frequent after the twins are born, we should still be fairly active. After all, there is always the shower. We can utilize our locked study while the twins sleep in their playpen in the corner. It’s not like they are going to know what we’re doing. And like I said earlier, we live in a house with five babysitters. What would a date night be without utilizing the entire night? I’m sure that we can trust Raven to watch over her niece and nephew for a few hours in the same house a few hallways over.”

“Yes, we can. And we will ask her if she’ll be willing to babysit later, but right now I would love to return to my pregnancy-induced increased libido. Could we possibly get back to that?”

“I suppose I could be persuaded,” Erik mused.

“Then I will persuade you.” Charles began to push himself up so he could turn to face Erik where he was lying on his side next to him before the metallokinetic stopped him.

“Hang on. I’ll do that.” Erik sat up and moved back between Charles’ legs.

“That was easier than I was expecting. I was looking forward to convincing you.”

Leaning down and supporting himself with a hand on the pillow beside Charles’ head, Erik rubbed his nose along the other man’s. “Charles, you should know by now that you don’t need to convince me to do anything,” Erik said honestly.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Charles murmured as he closed the miniscule gap between their mouths.

As they kissed, Erik brought his left hand up to massage at Charles’ temple, a weak spot that he had discovered even before they had embarked on the road to recruit others like them.

“Mmm,” Charles moaned, pulling away from Erik to travel lower, placing a kiss on his chin before venturing farther down to work on leaving a mark of his own on Erik’s neck. He picked a spot lower down than Erik had, but the bruise would still be too high to be concealed by Erik’s shirt since he had finally foregone his customary turtleneck back in April.

When he finished, Charles moved back up and resumed their kiss as Erik slid his hand down to palm Charles’ erection. The metallokinetic sat back so he was on his knees between Charles’ legs. He reached down and took them both in hand, giving a light stroke and passing a thumb over the heads. Charles thrust into the circle of his fingers and gave Erik a mental push to _stop teasing and just bloody get on with it already_.

With a chuckle and a brush of acknowledgment in return, Erik did, firming his grip and pumping them the way he knew Charles favored. It was not long before Erik could feel Charles getting close and with a last twist at the head, Charles climaxed. Erik couldn’t withstand the wave of ecstasy that washed over him and with a low moan, his come joined his lover’s in coating the underside of his belly.

Erik remained kneeling over Charles for a few minutes, his sweat-soaked hair just brushing Charles’ belly button, before sliding the hand he had wrapped around their cocks up and the hand he had braced himself with down so he could lift himself up and drop down beside a heavily breathing Charles. Curling up as close as physically possible, Erik rested his head on Charles’ right shoulder and reached out for Charles’ arm, bringing it up to his lips to press a tender kiss on the inside of his wrist before tangling their fingers together and resting their joined hands on Charles’ stomach.

As Charles watched a damp washcloth float into the room toward the bed, carried in from the bathroom by a piece of metal that Erik had reformed into a clip, he commented to the metallokinetic, “You really do have a groovy mutation, love.”

Grabbing the cloth out of the air and setting the metal clip on the bedside table, Erik cleaned the cooling come off Charles’ stomach and patted the area with a dry corner of the material. Once he was finished, he reattached the metal to the cloth and, with a gesture, sent it back to the bathroom.

Curling back up with Charles, Erik told him, “So you’ve said. Several times. And you know I think your mutation, your mutations, are exceptional.”

Sharing a warm pulse of pleasure with Erik, Charles said, “I know. But it is nice to hear some times, too.”

“Then I shall endeavor to remind you every once in a while.”

Placing a kiss on Charles’ forehead, Erik reluctantly got up to get ready for bed. When he returned, Charles had moved the extra pillows to the rocking chair resting in the corner and had gotten under the covers. Erik joined Charles under the blankets and placed a protective hand over his and Charles’ children as the couple drifted off to sleep.


	6. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An afternoon stroll through the greenhouse is interrupted by Charles going into labor.

Erik used his ability to roll Charles through Sharon Xavier’s greenhouse in the temporary wheelchair that Hank had wheeled into the study and mandated must be used for the rest of the pregnancy two weeks prior. The metalbender strolled along beside the telepath, taking in the genetians and cornflowers nestled among the roses and tulips.

"Mother had the gardeners plant the species that the other women expected to see during the garden parties that she hosted here every four months, but her favorite was the English ivy. She let Alice allow it to grow more than anything else in here."

Erik made a noise of acknowledgement and shared his own memory in return. Instead of a verbal reply, Erik let Charles see the small garden that his mother had kept at his childhood home. Charles sent the metallokinetic a wave of gratitude in return and they continued on in silence for a while.

The silence was broken again when they were almost ready to exit the greenhouse.

“Charles, I know that we will have a long wait. The humans are not going to,” here Erik paused, leaving _realize their idiocy_ unsaid, though Charles still heard it, “change their legal system.”

This time, Charles interrupted Erik to correct him. " _Our_ legal system, love."

"Yes, quite right." Clearing his throat, Erik continued, "I know the laws won't change any time soon, but I can wait for this."

Before Charles could interrupt again in order to find out what Erik was talking about, the metallokinetic stepped in front of Charles' wheelchair and got to his knees in front of him. Running his hands up and down Charles' thighs, Erik told him, "Charles, the first moment we met, you told me that I wasn't alone. I had always been alone after I lost my parents and then you literally jumped into my life and you have not left me alone since. You have given me joy and laughter and a new purpose, you have shown me kindness and respect and love, and you have made me part of your family. Charles, you have reminded me that it is far better to be a part of something than to work alone." Floating the titanium ring he had made from his pocket, Erik held it between his thumb and index fingers and finished his proposal with, "So now I'm promising you that you'll never be alone again either. Charles, will you marry me?"

Charles let out a measured breath before accepting Erik’s proposal. “Of course I will marry you, Erik. And you’re right, I know we won’t be able to have a legally recognized union, but we can have a ceremony here, witnessed by our family. Including Emily and Daniel because they are on their way now.”

Erik didn’t respond to Charles’ revelation for several long moments. When he had digested the news, his expression didn’t shift, but Charles could feel the internal chaos his words had caused.

“Okay,” Erik said, mostly to himself. “Okay.” Nodding to himself, Erik rose fluidly to his feet and lifted his fiancé from his wheelchair. “Are you able to contact Hank right now or do I have to let him know in person?” Erik inquired calmly.

“I can let him know telepathically," Charles confirmed. He put his left index and middle fingers to his temple, using the crutch to ensure the message that he was in labor and needed Hank to meet them down in the lab reached only his intended recipient and wasn’t broadcast to everyone in the mansion. There was a chance they would run into the others on their way to the lower levels, but he would prefer if there weren’t too many people already gathered in the lab upon their arrival.

They were able to make it from the door to the stairway that carried them down to Hank’s laboratory without passing anyone along the way. Once Erik had carefully descended the stairs, he hurried down the hallway and threw the double doors open with his powers so he could sweep directly into the room that had been overtaken with a gurney, monitors, and surgical equipment around the eight-month mark of Charles’ pregnancy without pause.

Erik gently lowered Charles onto the gurney situated in the center of the room before following Hank’s instructions, reluctantly moving over to the side of the room and changing into the gown he found waiting for him there. By the time Erik was able to hurry back to his fiancé's side, Hank had already inserted the IV into Charles’ right hand, administered the anesthetic, and was just finishing putting the curtain that would block their view of the surgery in place.

While Hank went through the final preparations needed before he could make the incision and deliver their children, Erik clutched Charles’ hand and told him, “Focus on me, okay, Charles? Just stay in my mind, baby, don’t watch through Hank’s eyes.”

Quietly, Charles said, “Actually, the caesarian is an interesting surgical procedure that I’ve never seen performed before.”

Rather than protesting any further, Erik offered a compromise. “I know you hate missing out on an opportunity to learn, but, if Hank agrees, how about you stay out of Hank’s head for now and you can view his memories of the procedure later?”

As one, they turned to look at Hank, who gave an approving nod.

“Alright then, I’ll try to stay in my own head and yours, but the medication will affect my control,” Charles warned.

“Just try your best,” Erik requested. “And please don’t use my powers right now. There are too many metal instruments in here and most of them are going to be used on you in a moment.”

Once Charles had given him a determined nod, they turned their attention to Hank, who lifted a scalpel and announced, “Okay. Everything is set. Are you ready, Charles?”

Squeezing Erik’s hand, Charles replied, “Yes...wait, no. Hold on a moment.” Turning his face toward Erik, he said, “We were interrupted earlier. I would love it if we can finish now.”

“Me, too,” Erik agreed, picking up Charles’ left hand and placing a kiss on his knuckles before sliding the band he’d retrieved from his pocket home on his fiancé's ring finger.

“Come here,” Charles requested and gave Erik a lingering kiss when he complied. Brushing their noses together, Charles turned back to Hank and told him, “Okay. Now you can go ahead, Hank.”

While Hank proceeded with the c-section, Charles split his attention between Erik, who was trying to think soothing thoughts to keep Charles calm, and the twins, who were beginning to feel distressed from the birthing process. Gently sending on the thoughts he was picking up from their Vati, Charles tried to soothe their little ones and reassure them that they would be fine in just a few minutes.

Soon Hank was delivering the first of their two children.

“Emily,” Charles whispered to Erik while Hank suctioned her nose and mouth.

Planting a firm kiss on Charles’ forehead and inviting the telepath to look through his eyes to get his first look at their daughter, Erik joined Hank near the tray of instruments. Forgoing the use of his powers, Erik picked up the umbilical scissors and cut his daughter’s umbilical cord after it had been clamped.

Carrying his daughter back to the stool he had been perched on after Hank was finished with his assessment and had swaddled her in a blanket, Erik carefully shifted Emily into a better position so Charles could get his first look at their daughter with his own eyes. While Charles drank in the sight of their daughter, Hank returned to Charles’ abdomen and, two minutes, later, their son Daniel was born.

Pausing to let Charles touch the back of Emily’s hand with the pad of his index finger, Erik reassured him. “We will be right back and you’ll get to meet our son, too.”

By the time Erik joined Hank, the scientist was finishing his examination of Daniel. Depositing his daughter into Hank’s waiting arms, Erik simply gazed down at his son for a moment before grabbing the umbilical scissors once more and cutting the cord.

The new father wrapped his son in the waiting blanket and carried him over to Charles. Running a hand across his son’s forehead, Charles said, “Hi there, Daniel. Welcome to the world.”

They had a few more minutes with Daniel before Erik left his place by Charles’ head for the last time to trade newborns with Hank and remained in place while Hank finished assessing Daniel. He helped Erik hold both babies when he was finished and moved back to complete the c-section and suture Charles while Erik returned to the other side of the curtain and let Charles coo at both infants.

When Hank was done and had cleaned up a bit, he removed the curtain and told the couple, “I’ll give the four of you some privacy. I’ll go let the others know and we’ll return so they can meet the twins once you have had some time to bond, perhaps half an hour?”

“That sounds wonderful, Hank. Thank you very much,” Charles told him sincerely.

Tearing his gaze from his new children, Erik looked at the teenager he thought of as a son and echoed, “Yes, thank you very much, Hank.”

Rubbing the back of his neck, the young mutant replied, “Of course. You’re welcome, you guys. Congratulations,” and vacated the lab in search of the mansions other inhabitants.


	7. Bonding Part 1 (Erik)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their birth, Erik spends time with his children while Charles sleeps.

Raven brushed a few errant strands of hair off her brother’s forehead and gently adjusted the blankets until they were almost completely covering his chest. When she was finished, she approached Erik, who was slowly pacing back and forth at the end of the bed. He paused when she approached, letting her place a kiss on her niece and nephew’s foreheads and a squeeze to his shoulder before she made her exit.

Once the door had closed behind her, Erik returned his full attention to his children. He held his daughter securely in his left arm and his son securely in his right arm. Lowering his head to take in the new baby scent of the twins, Erik slowed in his gentle swaying motion and joined Charles in bed, being careful so as to not wake him or their children.

As soon as he had settled against the pillow, Emily yawned and gave a little wave of her fist and Erik marveled once more over the perfection of the tiny human beings that he and Charles had created. Charles was still sleeping after the C-section and the other children were giving the new parents time alone to bond with their newborns so Erik used the time alone with his children to start memorizing every little detail about them. While he had been tracking Shaw after the camps, Erik had become adept at memorizing his target’s routine, but he was finally using those carefully-honed skills for love instead of revenge.

Leaning down, Erik brushed his nose across Daniel’s forehead before doing the same to Emily. He took in the light eyelashes, the small nose and lips, the perfect fingers and toes with their tiny nails.

After his training sessions with Charles, where Charles had further honed his abilities whilst dealing with distractions and Erik had focused on perfecting his abilities on a smaller scale rather than larger feats like manipulating the Caspartina anchor and the satellite dish, Erik was able to feel the blood circulating in the people around him if he concentrated. As he sat on the bed next to Charles, Erik concentrated all of his focus on the children he had helped to create. As he watched them sleep in his arms, he could feel the blood flowing through their veins and arteries.

For the first time since he was thirteen years old, Erik had biological family. He had not shared the same blood with another person since shortly after he was transported to Auschwitz. Now, he was holding two people who carried his and Charles’ DNA.

Charles was the reason that he had a family again. Not just because he had conceived and carried the infants that Erik could hardly bare to look away from, but he was the reason they were all there, living in his family’s mansion. With Charles came Raven, the delightful shapeshifter whom Erik thought of as a younger sister, something he had not had since he had lost his own sister, Ruth, when he and his family were still living in the Warsaw ghetto. And it was because of Charles that and his gifts that they had found the others. Hank with his genius intellect and insecurity about his physical mutation, though he was becoming more comfortable with himself after his serum-induced transformation. Darwin with his dependability and dry humor. Alex with his fierce protectiveness of those around him and his equally fierce longing to be reunited with his little brother, Scott. Sean, the youngest of their family before the birth of the twins who brought laughter with his jokes and food creations inspired by his occasional recreational drug use.

Daniel wriggled in his hold, bringing Erik’s full attention back to his children from his brief contemplation of the other members of his family. The baby boy moved his fist to his face, putting two of his fingers in his mouth before trying to fit his whole fist in. As Daniel sucked on his hand, Emily began to move so she could turn her face towards Erik’s chest, opening her mouth in search of milk.

“I am sorry, Liebchen. I am not equipped to feed you and your daddy is asleep. He needs his rest. How about we go find a bottle for you and your brother, hm?”

Before Erik could even begin to get up, Charles’ voice rang out. “It’s alright, love. I’m up. I can feed them.”


	8. Bonding Part 2 (Charles)

Erik turned to look at him. “Okay. If you’re sure. Give me a minute to put them down in their bassinet and I can help you up.”

“I am perfectly capable of sitting up on my own. You don’t need to put them down.”

“Charles, you have just been cut open and had two human beings pulled out of your body. You are not going to sit up without assistance.” While Erik protested Charles straining himself so soon after surgery, he carefully stood up from the bed and gently lowered the twins into the bassinet set up beside their bed.

Lingering a moment to make sure they were not going to start fussing, Erik turned back to the bed. He lifted Charles’ head slightly so he could adjust the pillows before leaning down to help Charles into a seated position.

As Charles made himself more comfortable against the headboard, Erik crossed the room and retrieved the nursing pillow Moira had given to Charles at the baby shower from the rocking chair that he had made himself. He helped Charles position the pillow before he turned back to the bassinet, picking up Daniel and settling him on the pillow.

While Charles looked over their son for the first time since the brief glance he’d had of him down in the lab, Erik scooped up Emily and took a seat on the edge of the bed beside Charles’ legs so the telepath could see their daughter.

Keeping his hand on Daniel’s back to make sure he stayed in place, Charles used his other hand to unbutton his pajama shirt. He pulled it aside and moved Daniel into position so he could latch onto his chest. Erik watched them for a moment before leaning over Charles’ legs to put Emily down on the bed, moving the pillows from his side of the bed and placing them so she was surrounded.

“Will you be alright with both of them on your own for a moment?”

“Of course. Where are you going?” Charles asked.

“To the kitchen. I want to get a bottle for Emily just in case.”

“Can you bring me some water when you come back?”

“Anything for you, Liebling.” Brushing a kiss over Charles’ forehead and running his finger over the back of Daniel’s hand, Erik strode to the door, leaving it slightly ajar on his way to the kitchen.

While Erik was down in the kitchen preparing a bottle for Emily, Charles studied his son, captivated by the fluttering eyelashes and grasping fists. Moving his attention to Daniel’s sister, the telepath rested his free hand on Emily’s head, rubbing his thumb back and forth through her fine hair.

Erik returned before Daniel was finished feeding so the metalbender set Charles’ glass of water on the bedside table next to him and settled back on the bed to feed Emily with the bottle. In response to Charles’ projected disappointment, Erik promised, “Next time you can feed Emily and I will give Daniel a bottle, but it is probably best for you to only feed one of them at a time for now. In a week or two, you can try feeding them together. Does that sound okay?”

“I suppose that’s acceptable,” Charles allowed. “It would be a bit overwhelming trying to feed both of them right now. I can give it a week before feeding them together.”

“Good. I like having something I can do for them.”

“Even after I can start taking them both, there might be a reason one of them needs a bottle. And they’ll need to be burped and changed, of course. You can take care of that,” Charles offered.

Huffing out a breath, Erik replied, “Thank you for that. I’ll take it. But you will have your share of diaper duty once you’ve healed more. And maybe Raven and the boys will change a diaper or two. It will be good practice for them for the future if they have families of their own.”

Daniel finished first and, by the time Charles was done buttoning his shirt and adjusting Daniel so he could burp him, the twins’ diaper bag was hovering next to him. Grabbing two burp cloths, Charles laid one down on Erik’s thigh and spread the other one over his shoulder and gently patted Daniel’s back.

By the time Charles was done with Daniel, Erik was finishing up with Emily, putting the bottle down on his bedside table and picking up the cloth Charles had given him. While his lover burped their daughter, Charles used the corner of the cloth to wipe their son’s mouth and study his face.

Reaching out with his telepathy, Charles touched Daniel’s mind.

When he used his telepathy on others, it was always him reaching out to others, a one-way experience. With practice, Erik had been learning to reach back, but it was different when Charles touched Daniel’s mind. As soon as Charles entered their son’s mind, the baby responded by flipping through Charles’ thoughts.

“Erik,” Charles said, louder than he had intended given the way Erik startled.

“What’s wrong?” Erik asked before Charles could tell him what Daniel had done.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Charles assured him. “Here, let me show you what happened.”

Even after all of this time, Charles never failed to feel pleasantly surprised for a moment at how Erik welcomed him into his mind when he kept it so fiercely guarded from others. This time, Charles pulled Erik’s mind into his own and reached out to their son’s mind. Like he had done when he sensed Charles’ mind entering his, Daniel reached out when he felt Charles and Erik and flicked through Erik’s thoughts.

Gently disentangling Daniel and Erik’s minds, Charles turned slightly to take in Erik’s reaction.

“Do you know if he can just hear thoughts for now or if he already has the full extent of your powers?”

“I am not sure,” Charles admitted. “I’ll need to monitor him carefully to see if he starts to influence anyone in the house as he grows.”

“If his powers manifested this early, it probably won’t belong before Emily starts to show signs of her ability.”

Before Charles could say anything in response, Charles, and Erik through their connection, could feel Daniel give his sister a mental poke. With the telepathic prompt, a stuffed bear rose from the rocking chair and floated over to Emily while a stuffed bunny made its way over to Charles for Daniel.

Intercepting the bear before it successfully reached Emily, Erik settled her in the crook of his arm before holding out the bear for her to grab. With Daniel grasping for the bunny that Charles held, Erik stood and circled the bed so he was standing next to Charles and Daniel.

Bending down to accept Daniel with his free arm, Erik waited for Charles to make sure they were both secure before backing up and allowing Charles to slowly rise from the bed until he was standing.

“We should go see the others. They will want to hold the twins and I am sure that Hank will be very interested to hear about our little telepath and our little telekinetic.”


End file.
